Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting South Korea on a two-day visit from February 21.
During his visit, PM Modi will hold talks with President Moon Jae-in on a host of issues aimed at strengthening strategic ties, agencies have said.
The prime minister’s visit is said to provide an important occasion for the two leaders to review bilateral relations, according to a statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs. (Agencies)
STRASBOURG: The European Commission has added Saudi Arabia, Panama, and Nigeria to a blacklist of nations, which have been seen as ‘threat’ because of lax controls on financing terrorism and money laundering.
The move has been dubbed as a ‘part of a crackdown’ on money laundering after several scandals at EU banks. This, however, has been criticized by some EU countries including Britain, which is worried about their economic relations with Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi government, meanwhile, said it regretted the decision. “Saudi Arabia’s commitment to combating money laundering,” it said.
CAIRO: A joint force of U.S.-Libyan army raided an al Qaeda site in Ubari, a Libyan city, agencies have said.
Spokesperson for Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Presidency Council, said that a site with a number of al Qaeda members in Ubari has been raided. He, however, gave no details.
The joint work between the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord and the US Government, according to Spokesperson Mohamed El Sallak, coincided with the meeting of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala at the Global Coalition to Defeat Islamic State meeting last week. (Agencies)
Heres’s a chronological timetable of events that occurred on this day in history. Let’s find out what happened today in history.
February 14
1349 2,000 Jews are burned at the stake in Strasbourg, Germany.
1400 The deposed Richard II is murdered in Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire.
1779 American Loyalists are defeated by Patriots at Kettle Creek, GA.
1848 James Polk becomes the first U.S. President to be photographed in office by Matthew Brady.
1859 Oregon is admitted as the thirty-third state.
1870 Esther Morris becomes the world’s first female justice of the peace.
1900 General Roberts invades South Africa’s Orange Free State with 20,000 British troops.
1904 The “Missouri Kid” is captured in Kansas.
1912 Arizona becomes the 48th state in the Union.
1915 Kaiser Wilhelm II invites the U.S. Ambassador to Berlin in order to confer on the war.
1918 Warsaw demonstrators protest the transfer of Polish territory to the Ukraine.
1924 Thomas Watson founds International Business Machines Corp.
1939 Germany launches the battleship Bismarck.
1940 Britain announces that all merchant ships will be armed.
1942 Japanese paratroopers attack Sumatra.
1949 The United States charges the Soviet Union with interning up to 14 million in labor camps.
1957 The Georgia state senate outlaws interracial athletics.
1965 Malcolm X’s home is firebombed. No injuries are reported.
1971 Moscow publicizes a new five-year plan geared to expanding consumer production.
1973 The United States and Hanoi set up a group to channel reconstruction aid directly to Hanoi.
1979 Armed guerrillas attack the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
1985 Vietnamese troops surround the main Khmer Rouge base at Phnom Malai.
Born on February 14
1760 Richard Allen, who was the first black ordained by a Methodist-Episcopal church.
1817 Frederick Douglass, slave, and later, activist and author.
1819 Christopher Latham Sholes, inventor of the first practical typewriter.
1845 Quinton Hogg, English philanthropist.
1859 George Washington Gale Ferris, inventor of the Ferris Wheel.
1894 Jack Benny, comedian, radio and television performer, and violinist.
Source: History Net
WASHINGTON: A top Pentagon has said that defense sales between India and the US are at an all-time. He added that the bilateral strategic partnership between the two countries continues to advance at an historic pace, reports have said.
According to Admiral Philip Davidson, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, told a Congressional hearing saying that the inaugural 2+2 Ministerial in New Delhi last September and signing of the COMCASA in 2018 were pivotal moments in the bilateral relations, according to agencies.
India and the US, last year, signed the COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) to facilitate interoperability between the militaries of the two countries.
The United States and Indian militaries participated in five major exercises over the past years. The two countries have executed more than fifty other military exchanges, and further operationalized the 2016 Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement, reports have said. (Agencies)
MOSCOW: Russia has showed its readiness to facilitate the dialogue between Venezuela’s government and opposition. It has, however, warned the United States against intervening in the country’s internal affairs.
Russia, which has sided with President Nicolas Maduro in Velezuela crisis, on Tuesday said that the country would facilitate talks to end the ongoing crisis, according to agencies. Maduro retains control of state institutions, including the military. However, most western countries, including the United States, have recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s President.
Tass news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying that Russia been maintaining contacts with the government of Venezuela and stand ready to provide service in order to facilitate the process of finding ways out.
Heres’s a chronological timetable of events that occurred on this day in history. Let’s find out what happened today in history.
February 13
1542 Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, is beheaded for adultery.
1689 The British Parliament adopts the Bill of Rights.
1862 The four day Battle of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, begins.
1914 The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is founded.
1936 The first social security checks are put in the mail.
1945 The Royal Air Force Bomber Command devastates the German city of
1949 A mob burns a radio station in Ecuador after the broadcast of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds.“
1968 The United States sends 10,500 more combat troops to Vietnam.
1970 General Motors is reportedly redesigning automobiles to run on unleaded fuel.
Born on February 13
1599 Alexander VII, Roman Catholic Pope.
1682 Giovanni Piazzetta, painter (Fortune Teller).
1764 Charles de Talleyrand, Napoleon‘s foreign minister.
1849 Lord Randolph Churchill, English politician
1873 Feodor Chaliapin, opera singer.
1902 Georges Simenon, novelist.
1910 William B. Shockley, physicist, co-inventor of the transistor.
1919 Tennessee Ernie Ford, country and gospel singer.
1933 Kim Novak, actress.
Source: History Net
CARACAS: Juan Guaido, Venezuela’s opposition leader, has said his team delivered humanitarian aid to the people. He, however, did not specify how he had received it, reports said.
According to Reuters, Guaido said they delivered the first cargo of humanitarian aid because ‘they have blocked the border’ for the time being. Guaido, 35, said in a televised address in Caracas that the aid was on a small scale.
Guaido — recognized by most Western nations as Venezuela’s legitimate president — tweeted a photo of himself surrounded by stacks of pots of vitamin and nutritional supplements.
According to Reuters, Guaido said they delivered the first cargo of humanitarian aid because ‘they have blocked the border’ for the time being. Guaido, 35, said in a televised address in Caracas that the aid was on a small scale.
The United States, joined by a majority of western nations, has recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader soon after he declared himself president. (Agencies)
SAN FRANCISCO: Immigrants from Nepal have filed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration unfairly ended a program, a temporary protected status (TPS), that lets them live and work in the United States. Similarly, immigrants from Honduras have also filed a lawsuit claiming that the decision taken by the Trump administration is ‘inappropriate’.
The lawsuit filed late Sunday in federal court in San Francisco alleges that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end so-called temporary protected status for the countries was motivated by racism.
The suit — which was filed on behalf of six immigrants and two of their American-born children — also alleges that the department changed how it evaluated conditions in these countries when determining whether immigrants could return there.
“We bring evidence the Trump administration has repeatedly denigrated non-white non-European immigrants and reviewed TPS designations with a goal of removing such non-white non-European immigrants from the United States,” said Minju Cho, a staff attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Los Angeles.
The group is one of several representing the immigrant plaintiffs, who live California, Minnesota, Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut. A message seeking comment was left for the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of court filings challenging the Trump administration’s decision to end the program for a cluster of countries whose citizens have lived and worked legally in the United States for years.
Last year, a federal judge in San Francisco temporarily blocked the U.S. government from halting the program for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. The suit filed by citizens of those countries, much like this one, cited Trump’s vulgar language during a meeting last year to describe African countries. The U.S. government grants temporary protected status, also known as TPS, to citizens of countries ravaged by natural disasters or war so they can stay and work legally in the United States until the situation improves back home.
The status is short-term but renewable and some immigrants have lived in the country for decades, raising American-born children, buying homes and building careers. Critics have said the program was meant to be temporary and shouldn’t be extended for so long.
The Trump administration announced last year that the program would be ending for Honduras and Nepal. Honduras was designated for the program after a devastating 1998 hurricane and about 86,000 immigrants from the country have the status, according to the lawsuit.
About 15,000 immigrants from Nepal — which was designated following an earthquake in 2015— are covered, the suit said. Together, these immigrants have more than 50,000 American children who would be affected by an end to the program, which lets those who are already in the United States stay in the country and obtain work permits, the suit said.
One of them is the 9-year-old daughter of Honduran citizen Donaldo Posadas Caceres, who came to the United States shortly before the hurricane in 1998. After Honduras was designated for the program, he obtained the status, and now works as a bridge painter and owns his home in Baltimore. He said he doesn’t want his children to return to a country they don’t know and where life is so dangerous. His elder daughter, he said, is in college studying to be a lawyer while the 9-year-old has plans of her own.
“She has the dreams of a child: she wants to be president,” he told reporters in Spanish during a telephone conference. “And I want to be here in the United States to support them, and see their achievements.” (Associated Press)
Heres’s a chronological timetable of events that occurred on this day in history. Let’s find out what happened today in history.
294 Kublai Khan, the conqueror of Asia, dies at the age of 80.
1554 Lady Jane Grey, the Queen of England for thirteen days, is beheaded on Tower Hill.
1818 Chile gains independence from Spain.
1912 China becomes a republic following the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty.
1921 Winston Churchill of London is appointed colonial secretary.
1931 Japan makes its first television broadcast–a baseball game.
1938 Japan refuses to reveal naval data requested by the U.S. and Britain.
1940 The Soviet Union signs a trade treaty with Germany
1949 Muslim Brotherhood chief Hassan el Banna is shot to death in Cairo.
1953 The Soviets break off diplomatic relations with Israel
1966 The South Vietnamese win two big battles in the Mekong Delta.
1972 Senator Edward Kennedy advocates amnesty for Vietnam draft resisters.
1980 The Lake Placid Winter Olympics open in New York.
1999 The U.S. Senate fails to pass two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
Born on February 12
1768 Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor
1775 Louisa Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams
1809 Charles Darwin, naturalist and influential theorist of evolution
1809 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United State (1861-1865).
1828 George Meredith, English poet and novelist.
1880 John L. Lewis, American labor leader.
Source: History Net